


Escapism

by futuresteven (orphan_account)



Series: a diamond in the rough [6]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Connie is a hybrid too, F/M, Short, Steven Universe is Pink Diamond, Steven Universe is a Diamond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25362115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/futuresteven
Summary: It wasn’t Steven’s preferred choice, but he had no other options.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Series: a diamond in the rough [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808644
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Escapism

“All better now?”

The taller of two forms sounded worried. Her brows were furrowed as she spoke, her voice shaky and filled with fear. In her left hand was a pale blue cloth covered in some sort of red substance. Even now, some of the liquid was falling off of the cloth and onto the rough floor. There wasn’t much she could do.

Across from her was a shorter figure. His hair was messy and his clothes were covered in red stains. Although he was sitting down, he was still trembling. Most surprising about him, however, was the tears trickling down his cheeks.

He inhaled slowly and winced. “It still hurts.”

“It probably will for a little while,” the girl replied, resting her free hand on his shoulder. She gently wiped away his tears using a clean corner of the cloth. It was soaked in water, signaling that he had been crying for a while now.

No one said a word as she leaned down and picked up another, much darker cloth She wrapped it around his head and made it cover his possibly-blind eye. Blood was still pouring out from the wound, but she was able to slow down the bleeding quite a bit. At least they were making progress.

After the events in White’s ship happened, the Quartzes took them back to their cells. Surprisingly, Steven joined them. He agreed to not destroy the place as long as he got to share a cell with Connie. Although the Amethysts were hesitant, he  _ is  _ still a Diamond and therefore was able to boss them around.

Steven usually looked so strong and confident, but right now was different. His glassy eyes and trembling form made him look weak and naïve, almost like a scared rabbit. Connie took a seat next to him and held him close, feeling as he tensed before relaxing into her hold. Her arm was much easier to heal than his eye, seeing as how Steven licked it and it healed within mere seconds.

“Does she hurt you often?” She faltered before asking. The other hybrid went tense again before whispering in return.

“Yes.”

Her breath hitched at his reply. He sounded so  _ fragile.  _ Similar to glass, he was likely to break at any given moment. There was no way to reply and no way to continue their conversation. No words had to be exchanged.

Then, another Amethyst stood in front of their cell and saluted. She had limb enhancers and long, purple hair. Compared to other Quartz guards, she seemed to be much more lax than the others.

“My diamond,” She smiled at him. Steven jumped up and whirled around before beaming at the sight of her.

“8XM! You’re finally back from your mission!”

Connie watched in silence as he stood up and clasped his hands together. This Amethyst looked vaguely familiar, and not in a good way…

‘8XM’ sighed, “I’m sorry for taking so long. One of the rebels — a  _ cross fusion  _ — trapped me in a fusion as well.”

That’s when the female hybrid tensed.  _ Oh no. _

Steven quirked a brow, “Trapped you in a  _ fusion?  _ Such a thing is possible?”

“Apparently so! This fusion, Rhodonite, was the result of a Ruby and a Pearl fusing, can you  _ believe it?”  _ The purple Gem groaned, “I was stuck with two of the lowest ranked Gems for  _ months!” _

“A Ruby, a Pearl, and an Amethyst… what would the result even be? A Tourmaline?”

She shook her head. “No, we made Dragon’s Vein Agate. The _worst_ fusion I’ve ever seen or had the experience of being a part of. A Tourmaline fusion does exist, but she’s the fusion of-”

“Me, Peridot, and Lapis fusing,” Connie interrupted. The Amethyst turned back to look at her and glowered.

“It’s  **you.”**

Steven looked between the two of them, visibly unimpressed. 8XM gasped.

“My diamond, let me get you out of there right away, she’ll trap you into a fusion too-”

“No.” Steven’s reply was short but simple.

“I wouldn’t trap anyone in a fusion!” Connie jumped up and stood next to the Diamond now. “What Rhodonite did to you wasn’t right, but it was the only way to stop you without shattering you!”

“I would have rather been shattered!”

Their bickering continued until Steven shouted at them.

“Your endless whining made my headache worse! Today’s already been bad enough, can’t you two just shut up?!”

“Of course, my Diamond,” Amethyst saluted with a frown. 

“Steven!” A familiar voice called out from a few feet away. The hybrids both perked up and Amethyst whipped around.

“Oh, thank the stars! You’re okay,” Pip sounded relieved. She clasped onto the iron bars, concern evident in her tone, “I was worried that I may have been too late! Is your eye okay?!”

Furrowing his brows, Steven walked forward and grabbed one of her fingers. It was a simple action that comforted both of them when they were worried.  _ They usually did it after White took Pip away for a while, although this time it was vice versa. _

“What happened to your eye?!” 8XM sounded worried now.

Pip frowned, “White Diamond attacked him and… oh, stars.”

“My eye still hurts, but Connie helped,” He explained, “We can be one eye buddies now.”

Amethyst gaped,  _ “Connie, _ as in  _ that  _ Connie, helped you?!” She pointed to the brunette standing next to him. He nodded.

“Of course she did,” He sighed. “I said  _ Connie,  _ not Rhodonite, didn’t I?”

“Yes, my diamond,” Amethyst looked down in shame.

Connie, on the other hand, was amazed.  _ Did Steven just stand up for her? _

Now that she thought about it and reflected back on the events that took place just an hour or so prior, Steven had  _ saved  _ her.

“Steven!” 

He glared at her drowsily. “What?”

“Thank you,” Her cheeks flushed. “For saving me, I mean.”

For a few moments, he said nothing. He examined her features before realizing she was done speaking and shrugged bashfully. “You’re welcome, I guess.”

“You two are rancid,” Jasper groaned from a few cells down. Steven narrowed his eye.

“Say that again and I won’t hesitate to shatter you,” He then winced.

Connie grabbed his shoulders again, “Are you okay?!”

“It  _ hurts,”  _ He whined, gripping onto her sleeves as she let out a pained grunt. She wrapped her arms around his waist and glanced up at Pip.

“Do you think any Gems would know how to help him?!”

The Pearl paused for a moment before shaking her head, “No. He’s always been able to heal himself, it’s never been  _ this  _ bad before…”

Peridot was even further away than Jasper was, yet she still successfully waved Pip over. Whatever she said to the pink gem made her eyes widen in surprise and shake her head frantically.

“No! Absolutely not!” She sounded horrified, crossing her arms. Peridot said something else but the Pearl huffed. “I wouldn’t ever dare to allow my Diamond to be put through torture like that!”

“Pip?” Steven asked with another wince. “What is she suggesting?”

Hesitating, she walked back with her arms crossed. “Peridot suggested that they take you to Earth, my Diamond. She believes that people there can fix your eye.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Amethyst shook her head, “The entire planet is gross and full of Gems who force you into fusions!”

Connie felt him hug her tighter. “Personally, I’d say that going to Earth wouldn’t be too bad of an idea… my stepmom’s a doctor and she’d be more than happy to help treat your eye.”

The Diamond took a deep breath. Everyone watched him in anticipation, waiting for him to say their next course of action.

“Fine. But only because I want this fixed. As soon as it’s done I’m coming right back here,” He saw Amethyst and Pip’s surprised expressions and sighed. “You two may come with me. That isn’t a suggestion, by the way. It’s an order, do you understand me?”

They nodded slowly.

“Let us out of our cages and let’s go. We can take the same ship we used to get to the Zoo.”

“Of course, my diamond.”

•┈┈┈••✦♥✦••┈┈┈•

Taking off was easy. No one was told to guard them for some reason, probably because Steven was there.

They had been in the ship for a few hours now. Connie was watching as Steven stared out of the window silently. He looked so delicate whenever he wasn’t on Homeworld, even if he probably never wanted to admit it. 

She took a seat next to him. No words were exchanged until they flew over another planet. Clearly, it was one of Yellow Diamond’s colonies. He sighed.

“They won’t be too happy when they find out I’m going to Earth.”

There was a hint of sadness in his tone. The brunette wrapped an arm around his waist when he cuddled into her side.  _ He really is a lot more affectionate than most people would expect… _

“I know,” She flustered when he rested his head on her shoulder, “But what’s the worst they would possibly do to you? You’re also a Diamond!”

In response, he laughed. “Barely. I’m only considered one because my mom was one and I have her Gem now. Had I not received her Gem, I would’ve died a long time ago. Besides, it’s not me I’m worried about. As soon as they find out I’m there I know that they’re going to start sending people to retrieve me. They may even visit Earth  _ themselves.” _

“You shouldn’t be there for too long… we’ll try to get you back as soon as possible. I’ll tell my stepmom when we arrive. Hopefully it won’t take a while.”

Their gazes shifted onto the others. Amethyst and Jasper were roughhousing in the background while Peridot, Lapis, and Pip were focusing on flying the ship successfully. The sight made her eyes soften.

_ Maybe Homeworld Gems weren’t so bad after all. _

Steven took a deep breath. “Is it true?”

She hummed. “Is what true?”

“Did… ‘Rhodonite’ really trap 8XM- I mean Amethyst- in a fusion called Dragon’s Vein Agate?”

Connie shivered. She remembered when the two of them first fused. No one was expecting Rhodonite to do such a thing, but after it happened they all realized that they should’ve expected something like this. The four-armed fusion one explained her feelings to her in detail. She admitted to wanting revenge on Homeworld.

Amethyst represented Homeworld.

Hesitantly, she nodded, “Yeah. It did happen. But- most fusions aren’t like that! Rhodonite, for example, is a fusion based on love. What happened with Amethyst… it wasn’t normal.”

“How many fusions can someone have anyways?”

The question made her laugh. “Any amount, silly! You can fuse however many times you want with whoever you want!” He tilted his head to the side, confused. “Here… okay. Lapis, Jasper, and Peridot. When Lapis fuses with Jasper, Malachite is formed. Turquoise is the result of Lapis fusing with Peridot while Tiger’s Eye is the result of Peridot and Jasper fusing. However, if Lapis, Jasper, and Peridot all fuse together they form Bloodstone.”

“That’s confusing,” The pink haired boy raised a brow.

“It really is! Especially when you add my fusions to the mix. When I fuse with Lapis we make Pectolite. Chrysoprase is the result of Peridot and I fusing, though! Jasper and I fuse into Seraphinite together. All four of us fuse to create Chrysocolla!”

“Stars….” He chuckled.

“Oh, and don’t forget the others! When I fuse with Jasper and Lapis we make Aventurine. Tourmaline is the result of me fusing with Peridot and Lapis, like I mentioned earlier. Labradorite is formed when I fuse with Peridot and Jasper,” She laughed at his wide eyes, “Then there’s my fusions with humans! Jeff and I make Jonnie. My friend, Lars, and I make Lonnie. Sadie and I make Cadie. Donnie is formed when I fuse with my dad, while Conyanka is formed when I fuse with my stepmom!”

“How do you remember these?” He was impressed.

“A lifetime of experience!”

He yawned. Of course she noticed this.

“Steven, how about you rest?”

For a moment, he hesitated. Then he nodded and leaned closer to her.

“We’ll be on Earth soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Any questions? Ask me on Tumblr! futuresteven.tumblr.com


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